“Our new governor deserves an opportunity to replace the Easley and Perdue appointees with people who share his vision for reforming and fixing North Carolina’s broken state government,” Goolsby said.

Freshman Rep. Rick Catlin, R-New Hanover, was more cautious. “I don’t have a problem of looking at it,” he said. “There is a concern when you completely clean house of losing institutional knowledge.”

CRC members and environmentalists had a harsher reaction.

“This is a power grab by a small handful of economic interests that profit off of the use of our environment,” said Todd Miller, executive director of the N.C. Coastal Federation. “It puts the foxes completely in charge of the hen house.”

RALEIGH — A bill began moving through the General Assembly on Tuesday that would sweep out the members of several important state boards and commissions, allowing the governor and the GOP-controlled General Assembly to appoint their own candidates.

Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, a primary sponsor of the bill, told the Senate Rules Committee that the bill streamlines government by getting rid of unnecessary boards and commissions and that it allows several key entities to be run by appointees who “are more like-minded and willing to carry out the philosophy of the new administration.”

If approved, the legislation would dismiss all current members of the Coastal Resources Commission, N.C. Utilities Commission, state Industrial Commission, Environmental Management Commission and Wildlife Resources Commission.

Other panels labeled obsolete would be eliminated or reduced in size. It also eliminates 12 special Superior Court judgeships.

The bill would also do away with a current stipulation that a majority of CRC members not earn substantial income from coastal land development, along with a requirement that most commissioners live at or near the coast.

Senate Democrats and others objected, saying the state would lose years of expertise and carefully balanced membership.

“This is quite breathtaking in scope,” said Sen. Josh Stein, a Raleigh Democrat.

Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, a Democrat from Asheville, repeatedly asked Rabon what the incumbent members had done wrong. Rabon said it wasn’t about job performance.

“Our new governor deserves an opportunity to replace the Easley and Perdue appointees with people who share his vision for reforming and fixing North Carolina’s broken state government,” Goolsby said.

Freshman Rep. Rick Catlin, R-New Hanover, was more cautious. “I don’t have a problem of looking at it,” he said. “There is a concern when you completely clean house of losing institutional knowledge.”

CRC members and environmentalists had a harsher reaction.

“This is a power grab by a small handful of economic interests that profit off of the use of our environment,” said Todd Miller, executive director of the N.C. Coastal Federation. “It puts the foxes completely in charge of the hen house.”

The legislation is inherently a conflict of interest, Miller said, and eliminates years of experience from state commissions whose makeup is currently more or less politically balanced.

“This is unprecedented,” said David Webster, a CRC member and professor of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. “I don’t think this has ever happened in the state of North Carolina, and I think it sets a very bad precedent.”

Joan Weld, a Currie resident and vice chairwoman of the coastal policy panel, said, “One can certainly expect administrative changes under a new administration, but I believe that Senate Bill 10 is extremely dramatic, and it’s a concern. Eliminating in one fell swoop this vast base of experience is really, really concerning. The coastal issues are complex. To be able to navigate these difficult waters, I think experience is important.”

The CRC meets Wednesday and Thursday in Wilmington. As of Tuesday, the bill wasn’t listed on the commission’s agenda.

“I don’t know for sure that it will come up in any official capacity at this week’s CRC meeting,” said Michele Walker, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Coastal Management. “Though I’m sure everyone will be talking about it.”